Younger generation has skills to win cyber battles, official says

By Defense Systems Staff

Apr 05, 2012

The rise of cyberattacks around the globe can be blamed in part on an older generation of policymakers who are out of touch with rapid technology change, a senior U.S. official said April 2 during a presentation on the topic at the Estonian IT College in the NATO member’s state capital Tallinn, reports Agence France-Presse.

"The truth is there are a lot of senior officials in many countries who barely even know how to use an e-mail," said Rose Gottemoeller, U.S. acting under secretary for arms control and international security, adding, “The change will come with the new generation.”

Estonia, one of the world’s most wired nations, is home to NATO’s cyber defense center, and has first-hand experience in cyber warfare having been the target of a large-scale cyberattack in 2007 allegedly carried out by Russian hackers during a diplomatic flare-up with its larger neighbor.